50kbs max on torrents?

Member

I left the dying and rapidly declining service of ADSL24 to join ICUK. I was promised good speeds and service before I joined and so far so good.. however torrents are another story. I occasionally download the odd tv show or a large patch / update off torrents as they're usually faster than a swamped website. However I had a test run of torrents today and I can't get faster than 50kbs

If this is the case I am off! I Don't download very much hence choosing ICUK and the package I did, and I don't mind paying extra for a good fast service, but there's little point of me paying for that if I can't utilise it

ISP Rep

You are more than welcome to email about any problems you are experiencing as opposed to posting your point on a forum. We are here to help privately or indeed publically.

If you are on one of our Option 1-4 packages there are basic shaping rules in place. These rules are designed to ensure that P2P usage doesn't get carried away with itself and spoil the enjoyment for the majority of users and more legitimate usage especially as bandwidth is a premium. If we didn't have such restrictions we either run the risk of slowing down access to sites, FTP, and priority services such as VoIP, but we also run the risk of having to constantly by additional pipes just to cater for a small minority that can quite easily occupy a large proportion of our bandwidth for what some may call illegal activities (although I'm all too aware that some P2P isn't illegal).

This was implemented in light of last December's bandwidth hike by BT Wholesale. Our "light user" and Option 5 ADSL 2+ are free from such restrictions as these operate via wholesale LLU arrangements we have where the bandwidth costs are considerably less and the need to place such restrictions limited. Sadly these don't cover the entire country, but the number of exchanges are increasing month on month.

Our connections are fast, and we have thousands of happy customers whether they be individuals or 400 strong reseller network. If you had asked us prior to joining ICUK if torrents would be fast our open and honest reply would be as per the above. These policies are in place with good reason and is why ICUK remains a popular choice for a growing number of subscribers. You will however find that through the early hours the speeds of P2P will increase as the demand for the allocated bandwidth decreases.

If you require any further assistance please email the solutions@ address and quote your username. We're not always so eagle eyed to forum posts.

Casual Member

there is no mention of torrent throttling on the website and i couldnt find it in the t&c unless its somewhere silly.

i tried ringing this morning as i wanted a good fast isp with no torrent shaping and no one answered? sat 9am-12 it says its 9:30 to an 0845 and twice no answer or anything :/

im put off now too and will look elsewhere its 150gb a month total how does it mater what way you use that? anyone not on llu with u is screwed basically.

and can i point out you say legitimate users umm so everoyne using torrent does so isnt legimate? ha good one as he said many of us prefer it for offical large game patches and tv shows that have been aired on normal tv so that is legitimate.

ISP Rep

Sorry that you didn't through to someone on Saturday (14th November 2009)morning. EDF sent a letter stating that planned downtime was scheduled for Saturday morning in the local area which took out our power and phone systems and as such we chose to work from home. Emails were answered throughout this period however, and across the weekend as we always do. Did you try emailing in?

We have a revamp scheduled for our website in the coming month which will make our traffic policies even clearer. We have nothing to hide, and our policies have worked well for several years. If you don't like the sound of this when we're not the ISP for you and we wish you all the best in your search. There are plenty of customers that find our approach refreshing and our network provides them exactly what they are after. We can't please everyone and sustain a first class network.

Casual Member

hi again, im on the lookout for a new isp and had forgot why i did not like ICUK.

that website change has not come about i see, its still a confusing mess as to what really goes on.

would you care to indulge the exact traffic shaping going on in the option 1-4 packages? theres is 150gb usage on one for £35pm yet your are restricted what way you use that 150gb even though you could use the same 150gb downloading movies via streaming and still use the exact same amount of bandwidth as you would p2p

it doesnt make sense, 150gb is 150gb no matter what way you use it try to justify it?

Top Member

hi again, im on the lookout for a new isp and had forgot why i did not like icuk.

That website change has not come about i see, its still a confusing mess as to what really goes on.

Would you care to indulge the exact traffic shaping going on in the option 1-4 packages? Theres is 150gb usage on one for £35pm yet your are restricted what way you use that 150gb even though you could use the same 150gb downloading movies via streaming and still use the exact same amount of bandwidth as you would p2p

it doesnt make sense, 150gb is 150gb no matter what way you use it try to justify it?